The Quest

St Martins PrThe Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the ancient Gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.

Baker & TaylorWhen ancient Egypt is threatened by a series of terrifying plagues, including the failure of the Nile River, the pharaoh sends the Warlock Taita on a perilous quest to the source of the Nile to uncover the cause of the catastrophe, unaware of the terrible enemy who lies in wait, plotting the destruction of The Warlock. By the author of River God. 225,000 first printing.

McMillan Palgrave

A stunning, heart-pounding, journey into the lost world of the Pharaohs.

Wilbur Smith has earned international acclaim for his bestselling River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock. Now, the unrivalled master of adventure returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his thrilling Egyptian series with his most fantastic story yet. The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.Egypt has been struck by a series of terrible plagues, killing its crops and crippling its people. Then the ultimate disaster befalls the kingdom. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up.Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa, from where the mighty river springs. In desperation the Pharaoh sends Taita, the only man who might be able to find his way through the hazardous territory to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. But not even Taita can have any idea of what a terrible enemy waits in ambush in those dark lands at the end of their world.No other author can conjure up the violence and mystery of Ancient Egypt like Wilbur Smith. The Quest marks his stirring return to the acclaimed series and proves once again why fans such as Stephen King praise him as the world's "best historical novelist."

Holtzbrinck

A stunning, heart-pounding, journey into the lost world of the Pharaohs.

Wilbur Smith has earned international acclaim for his bestselling River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock. Now, the unrivalled master of adventure returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his thrilling Egyptian series with his most fantastic story yet. The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.Egypt has been struck by a series of terrible plagues, killing its crops and crippling its people. Then the ultimate disaster befalls the kingdom. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up.Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa, from where the mighty river springs. In desperation the Pharaoh sends Taita, the only man who might be able to find his way through the hazardous territory to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. But not even Taita can have any idea of what a terrible enemy waits in ambush in those dark lands at the end of their world.No other author can conjure up the violence and mystery of Ancient Egypt like Wilbur Smith. The Quest marks his stirring return to the acclaimed series and proves once again why fans such as Stephen King praise him as the world’s “best historical novelist.”

Blackwell North AmerWilbur Smith returns with the eagerly awaited sequel to his Egyptian series. Following on from River God, The Seventh Scroll and Warlock, The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the ancient gods and a master of magic and the supernatural.Egypt is struck by a series of terrible plagues that cripple the kingdom, and then the ultimate disaster follows. The Nile fails. The waters that nourish and sustain the land dry up. Something catastrophic is taking place in the distant and totally unexplored depths of Africa, from where the mighty river springs. In desperation the Pharoah sends for Taita, the only man who might be able to win through to the source of the Nile and discover the cause of all their woes. None of them can have any idea of what a terrible enemy lies in ambush for the Warlock in those mysterious lands at the end of their world.

Baker & TaylorWhen ancient Egypt is threatened by a series of terrifying plagues, including the failure of the Nile River, the pharaoh sends the warlock Taita on a perilous quest to the source of the Nile to uncover the cause of the catastrophe.

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I can't help learning geography about Egypt and N. Africa from reading Wilbur Smith's books. The information and history he provides through his books is almost life like. His characters are so well developed they could be standing next to you.

The Quest --- by --- Wilbur Smith. This isn’t my first brush with Wilbur but for sure, I hope it won’t be my last. The place is ancient Egypt. The Nile, the river that nourishes Egypt has, mysteriously, virtually dried up. Pharaoh sends Taita the Magus on a mission upriver to discover the cause of this calamity. It is here, on the flanks of a volcano that Taita confronts the wicked, evil creature whom he finally manages to overcome. That, in a very small nut shell, is it. There’s adventure, swordplay, blood, gore, and magic all between one set of covers. It’s a shame the book’s only five hundred pages short. Reading that’s enjoyable to the nth degree.

This book is like a video game on paper. Cardboard characters encounter one adventure after another, being manipulated through a bunch of trials that seem more or less randomly thrown at them. It's really a long string of "this happened, then this happened, then..." etc., with virtually no character development whatsoever. For example, as far as I can tell, Fenn's only purpose in life is to worship Taita and bail him out once in a while. Taita's gang benefits from convenient magic, their opponents' lack of competence (or brains), and/or sheer dumb luck too often to be believable. The climax of the story seems a little too simple considering the extraordinary power the witch Eos is said to have. Overall, this story could have been much more interesting if it had been better written, with more character development and more plot interdependencies.